Canadian freed from Syrian jail

[iverglas]

... set to arrive in Montreal:

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/10/06/arar031006

Arar was first detained by U.S. authorities in September 2002 while he was changing planes in New York. The software engineer was travelling from Tunisia to Canada.

U.S. authorities suspected him of being a member of al-Qaeda and deported him to his native Syria. While he has both Syrian and Canadian citizenship, he hasn't lived in Syria for more than 15 years. Arar was jailed upon his return, but not formally charged.

Arar was travelling on a Canadian passport. Canadian consular officials were not notified that he was detained. He was not given access to counsel.

Amnesty International has reported that he was mistreated in prison in Syria:

Alex Neve, the head of Amnesty International Canada, said Graham must keep pressuring Syria if it turns out Arar was tortured. He said Canada must also demand answers from Washington.

"The fact remains that U.S. officials treated a Canadian citizen with contempt for his basic rights, over a year ago."

Canadian government agencies last week refused to answer questions put to them by members of Parliament at a parliamentary committee hearing, concerning what information the Cdn govt may have passed to the US govt prior to the removal of Mr. Arar from the US to Syria. That is, there is suspicion, unconfirmed, that the Cdn govt could have been complicit in this incident.


From an earlier story:

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2002/10/21/arar_021021

The Canadian government objects to a U.S. law which allows Canadians, born in certain Middle Eastern countries, to be deported back to their birthplace.

One has to wonder what earthly reason the US govt would have for going to the trouble and expense of deporting someone to Syria (without legal counsel or consular assistance ...) when he could have been deported to Canada. But regardless of its motivations or intentions, when a US govt action results in an individual being separated from his family for a year and tortured in prison in a third country, as this action apparently did, one can only hope that some questions will be asked on the domestic scene.

.

[Maple]

1. Thank goodness

he's back.

One can only hope he's alright.

[benfranklin1776]

2. Yes thankfully this portion of his horrid nightmare is over.

Still the traumatic effects will linger for the rest of his life. Where does he go to get his psyche back? This incident demands a full investigation here as well and answers as to how this travesty could have transpired as well as legal strictures to insure this never happens AGAIN EVER to anyone.

[Lisa]

3. I'm so relieved ...

This poor man ... and his family. I hope they will be okay. As a Canadian, I want to know why this happened. If any of our people were involved, e.g. "giving" him to Ashy's people as a sop to appease their criticisms of our security -- heads must roll.